


2190 Days

by deilen_gwyrdd



Category: The Walking Dead (TV)
Genre: Blood, Blood and Gore, Child Death, First Meetings, Graphic Description, Heath Walking Dead, Hurt/Comfort, Kissing, M/M, Protective Aaron, Rating: PG13, Romance, Surviving, Swearing, Torbin Walking Dead, Zombie Apocalypse, Zombie Children, before Alexandria, denise Cloyd - Freeform, during apocalypse, hurt aaron, hurt eric, sassy Eric, scared Eric, sick Eric
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-09
Updated: 2017-06-07
Packaged: 2018-06-01 07:31:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 12
Words: 16,904
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6508624
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/deilen_gwyrdd/pseuds/deilen_gwyrdd
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>One minute they're bumping into eachother at an airport, and the next, they're running for their lives from a herd of zombies.</p><p>(A series of short One-shots, from the day Aaron and Eric meet, to the day they arrive at Alexandria.)</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Day 1

**Author's Note:**

> I'm not the best writer but damn it the Walking writers need to grow some balls and put more Aaron/Eric scenes in the show!
> 
> So here's for the Aaric fans out there! Chin chin!

The first time Aaron met Eric was in Washington D.C. Aaron had just landed at the airport from one of his missions,  one where he’d been shot at, fell in god knows how many amount of muddy puddles, and had gained a fractured wrist in the first week. It wasn’t the aid worker’s best mission away, but he’d gone out and done what he needed to do, help people and give them what they needed, and that’s why the other things hadn’t bothered him.

So understandably getting off the plane was a hard task, even walking through the bustling airport made him want to find an abandoned corner and curl up in a ball to sleep. Kids were screaming high pitchy in excitement as the parents fussed around with their bags noisily, cafes and eateries were jam packed and even the airport staff were either shouting down phones or busily scurrying through the place like a load of ants.

Aaron sighed to himself as he made his way through the arrivals door and out into yet another busy area, thankfully it only took him a few seconds to read the signs to where he wanted to go and off he went in that direction. The brunette was happily going his way, ignoring all the people around him with his head down before his stride was cut off unexpectedly. Out of nowhere Aaron felt a body hit him square on the shoulder sending him a couple of steps back, his head snapped up and his wide eyes landed on a man around his height, with red hair and dark eyes. The young man in his jeans and hoodie held tight onto a backpack and looked up at Aaron apologetically.

“Oh,” the young red head smiled brightly in his direction. “I’m so sorry, I’m so clumsy sometimes!”

Aaron smiled back at the other man, and shrugged his shoulders. “That’s alright, it was my fault, I should have looked where I was going.”

Red head laughed lightly, swinging his backpack onto his shoulder with a heavy sigh. “Airports, huh? Can’t get through them without at least bumping into someone.”

“Yeah,” Aaron chuckled as he adjusted the straps on his bag, noticing how red head bit his bottom lip whilst looking around. “Although you’re probably about the third person I’ve bumped into since I got off the plane.”

Red head grinned widely, with a cheeky wink he replied. “Third time lucky, must be a sign.”

Aaron hadn’t realised he’d been blushing until the other man started laughing again.

A few minutes later Aaron had learnt that the red head’s name was Eric, he was from Washington too, and that they both had a thing for action movies. By the time they’d both found their way outside and parted ways, Aaron was getting into his taxi with a smile and Eric’s phone number.


	2. Day 31

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Aaron and Eric's first date

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry for the late update... not too happy with it because it was kinda rushed but I hope you guys enjoy it :)

A month later and Aaron had almost put a hole in the living room carpet with his frantic pacing back and forth.

“Will you stop,” his friend Myra mumbled, flipping through her weekly magazine. “You’re making me dizzy.”

Aaron stopped mid stride, combing a hand through his hair. “Sorry, I just... I’m a little nervous.”

And of course he should be. It had been an entire month of texting and calling Eric, both being so busy with their schedules that they couldn’t meet up until now. After such a long time of not seeing the other man face to face it felt like he was about to meet him for the first time all over again. He didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.

“Dude,” Myra rolled her eyes, tossing her magazine to the side. Enter the best friend speech. “You guys have been talking like, every single day since the airport, you’ve skyped countless times and whenever you can get your hands on your phone you send each other text messages. Not to mention you’re both practically made for each other!” she said without taking a breath. “So enough with the nervousness and get excited! You’re about to spend the entire day with him!”

Aaron smiled widely, shaking his head in disbelief. “Always know what to say, don’t you Myra.”

“I’m a woman, Aaron,” she said seriously, standing to fuss over the sides of her friend’s hair. “We know everything, and give the best advice.”

“Okay, whatever you say.” He replied with a laugh.

Within minutes Aaron was waiting patiently in the kitchen, watching the water droplets fall from the tap. As soon as the doorbell rang the nervous man jumped so much he knocked his elbow on the counter and almost slipped on the tiled floor, which would have been a great start to the date that hadn’t even begun yet.

The brunette practically yanked open the front door once he got there, and was rewarded with the red head he’d been wanting to see for so long. Eric smiled up at him cheerfully, he looked gorgeous to Aaron in his tight jeans and dark shirt and those converse trainers he apparently loved to wear anywhere.

“Hi.” Eric greeted.

“Hi.” Aaron answered, suddenly feeling stupidly nervous.

It felt like hours while they were standing there on the doorstep before Eric started laughing a little. “Are we ready to go?”

“Uh… yeah, yeah… sorry.” Aaron could feel his cheeks heating up, hiding his embarrassment behind a laugh of his own. “Let’s go.”

He gave a quick wave to Myra who was sneakily hiding behind the dining room wall, sending him a wink in return before he shut the front door behind him. Aaron tried to contain a big smile when Eric took his hand in his, the pair walking down the footpath hand in hand.

Eric was more than happy when Aaron led him to the nearest diner for some grub, the younger explaining his ridiculous obsession with homemade pies and that bacon that was crispy right through. They also ended up going for a stroll in the nearest park, finding a spot to sit and watch the parks regular musician playing away on his guitar and singing like it was second nature to him. After that time started running away with them.

Aaron then took Eric to his favourite bookstore, knowing Eric loved to read a good book in his spare time. Surprisingly, it took them over an hour in there and they both came out with a handful of books each. What they did next might have not been a good idea to begin with, but sitting in the cinema watching a horror movie had Eric clinging to Aaron like his life depended on it, which Aaron didn’t mind in the slightest bit.

By the time it was dark out and the clock hit half past nine the two walked back to Aaron’s house. The two stood by Eric’s car for what felt like hours, having gotten lost in conversation about their day and whatever else snuck its way into the talk. The sky was pitch black and the streetlights illuminated the road by the time Eric looked at the time, both admitting they were getting sleepy after a busy day.

“I’ll see you soon?” Aaron asked as the younger man opened the car door.

“You bet.” Eric grinned.

And without warning Eric had taken two small steps forward, and leaned in to plant a kiss on Aaron’s lips. Aaron was surprised for a mere second before he melted into the kiss, pulling Eric in closer, feeling the other man’s smile against his own.


	3. Day 396

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A year later.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> terribly sorry for being the worst updater ever. this one's also a little short and rushed, again, apologies, I've just been stupidly busy :/

A year after Aaron and Eric had met at the airport, the two were sitting in Aaron’s living room, enjoying their takeaway pizza and one of Eric’s favourite movies, when Aaron turned to his boyfriend and decided to just let his words slip out.

“Will you move in with me?”

The brunette immediately regretted being such an idiot and saying it without even thinking about it first, he was going to work up to it, start talking about the future first and at least hint to his lover at what he was getting at. But no, he had to just have word vomit that very second. Not to mention Eric was staring at him with his big, brown eyes like he’d just been hit full on in the face.

“I... shit it wasn’t supposed to come out like that!” Aaron said quickly, taking a hold of the other man’s hand. “Sorry Eric, I’m so stupid... I was going to wait until later and... I...”

Then out of the blue Eric was laughing, hand over his mouth in that cute way he always laughed with eyes crinkling at the sides. Aaron couldn’t help but slowly smile, Eric’s laughter had always been contagious.

“Aaron,” Eric said with a stifled laugh. “You’re too sweet, you know what.”

“Sorry.” Aaron repeated with a sheepish grin. “I just… guess I couldn’t keep it in.”

Eric chuckled softly, shifting closer to the taller man if possible, before leaning forward to peck him gently on the nose. “Guess you couldn’t, huh?” the red head beamed. “And the answer’s yes, by the way.”

Aaron was about to respond with another apology before Eric had beat him to it. And before the younger man could move another smidgen, Aaron was enveloping him in a big hug and planting sloppy kisses all over his face. Eric laughed loudly, he had a funny feeling Aaron was happy with his answer.


	4. Day 1,856

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry again for the late update!

Four years went by before all hell broke loose in their town. Eric didn’t know how it happened but one moment he was picking up his and Aaron’s empty coffee mugs from the table, and the next he was being tackled to the ground, mugs smashing deafeningly on the hard floor.

A heavy man squirmed furiously on top of him, pinning Eric to the ground, no way of getting up. Eric couldn’t stop himself from panicking as the strange man above him snapped his jaws harshly at his own face as if trying to take a bite out of him. Eric held the man as far away from him as he could, one arm pushing hard against the other’s chest whilst his other hand dug into the guy’s gurgling throat. It wasn’t the man’s snapping jaws and thrashing arms that made Eric fear for his life, but the fact that the guy’s skin on his face was hanging off, his torso was bleeding uncontrollably, and his eyes, his dead, cold eyes bore into Eric as if desperate to sink his jaws into him.

Eric felt himself tremble in fright so scared that his voice wouldn’t work, he couldn’t bring himself to scream or shout, anything that would get someone’s attention. As the monster on top of him let out a terrifying wail the thing was knocked off of him by a bat to the head, falling to the floor with a soft thud. The next thing he knew he was being hauled into a sitting position, Aaron’s blood splattered face coming into view as he held onto Eric.

“Eric?” he repeated over and over, as the younger man seemed to be stuck in a trance. “Eric, sweetheart?” he said softly, moving his hands to cup his face. “It’s okay, you’re okay, Eric honey can you hear me?”

Eric swallowed the large lump in his throat and blinked up at Aaron. “What…” he croaked, before he looked down and realised his entire body and face was covered in dirt and blood.

Eric broke down, Aaron held him. Two days later they realised living there wasn’t safe anymore.


	5. Day 1,861

Within five days of the accident inside their home, Aaron and Eric had packed all their essentials, made sure to take whatever they needed to survive on, and drove away in their shared car. By now the entire place looked like a ghost town, only a handful of people had decided to stay within the outskirts of the city while the rest drove even further out to seek better safety.

As the couple drove in silence down one of the noiseless streets they couldn’t help but feel restless. From what they’d heard on the news, seen for themselves out in the town, and from that one moment in their home, the creatures walking around with bloody clothes and snapping jaws were deadly and more dangerous than anyone could imagine. Nobody had any idea how it had started or why, all they knew was that it was spreading and slowly the human race was being overrun.

After a few turns through quiet streets and passes through broken down traffic lights, Eric had already had enough and decided to stick on the radio, making sure it was at a low level that only they could hear. Aaron glimpsed over at him and smiled understandingly.

“Is it okay?” Eric asked in a quiet voice.

“The music?” Aaron asked back as his boyfriend nodded in answer. “Of course Eric, I know how much music calms you.”

Eric smiled slightly. “Thanks Aaron.”

Aaron stole quick glances at Eric as he drove on, noticing how the blonde stared off into space and bit down hard on his lip, his fingers twiddling in his lap. Aaron sighed inaudibly, Eric was so petrified it was clear by the way he was acting and talking and Aaron absolutely hated seeing him like that.

“Hey.” Aaron whispered across to him, bringing the car to a stop in the middle of the road.

Eric looked over in confusion just as Aaron was reaching out his hands to hold onto his, squeezing gently in reassurance. “We’re going to be okay.” Aaron said, turning in his seat. “You and me together, we’re going to get through this. We’re a team, remember?”

Eric smiled a little, pressing Aaron’s hand in answer. “Okay, good.” Aaron smiled. “Now let’s get out of here and find somewhere to sleep.”

Eric couldn’t help but smile as Aaron leaned forward to give him a kiss on the forehead before turning back around, stepping on the gas to get the car going again.

 All of a sudden Eric’s mood had lightened thanks to his boyfriend. He was less antsy and tuned into the softly playing music in the car, humming along quietly to himself as they passed houses. But it wasn’t long before both of their moods were clouded by a stark reminder of what was happening to the world.

As they drew nearer to the end of the road Eric noticed some movement from a house on his right, he leaned forward expecting it to be someone loading things into their car or getting their car ready to leave, but what he really saw made his insides crawl and his stomach turn. Eric sat back and stared in horror as the vehicle drew closer to the scene enfolding right before his eyes.

“Aaron.” He croaked, eyes never leaving the house.

The older man took a look at his boyfriend and followed his gaze. Both men watched on in shock as the car drove passed the house to their right. The driveway had blood stains and the front door had a bloody handprint in its centre. The car rocked back and forth slightly as a small, undead girl with a bite mark to her face banged on the windows from inside the car, teeth clanking and snarling against the glass. On the front lawn there were three bloody, dismantled corpses, two being fed on by the dead creatures, the third of a child on his back with his eyes trapped wide open.

They couldn’t take their eyes off of it. Not once since they heard of those monsters had they come across such a scene.

Minutes later as they turned off onto a road leading out of the city, neither men spoke a word of what they saw, Eric gripping the door handle tight as if his life depended on it.

“Stop the car.” He almost yelled.

Aaron didn’t hesitate and pulled onto the side of the road. As soon as the car halted Eric was flying out of the door and collapsing on the other side of the road, bringing up the contents of his stomach all over the grass. Aaron quickly came to his aid, rubbing his back and whispering meaningless nothings to try and calm his breathing.

What felt like hours later the two were clinging to each other at the side of the road, Eric sobbing at what he’d seen, and Aaron praying to whoever was out there that they’d make it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know Eric seems a bit OOC in this (He's totally badass in the comics).. but I like to think of him as being really afraid at the start o the apocalypse, and Aaron being the comforting, protective one :)


	6. Day 1,897

Within a few weeks the world had gone to hell. Just over a month after Aaron and Eric left their home barely anywhere was safe. Electricity had cut out, taps had stopped running, petrol was hard to get, and day after day more of the undead walked around the empty streets and fields looking for their next victim. It was like a switch had been flicked, and suddenly there was nothing.

The couple had long since abandoned their car, having no petrol cans left in the boot giving them no choice but to park it at the side of the road and carry on by foot. It was a lot scarier walking down the long roads in the middle of nowhere, out in the open where any of the creatures could pop out from between the trees. Aaron and Eric didn’t even have a plan as to where they would go. They’d stopped at friend’s houses weeks before, nobody in sight, some found in their homes with wounds to their heads. Getting to their families was impossible, not unless they wanted to walk for days on end to get to them on the other side of the country.

There was nowhere for them to run to. So the pair just kept walking. They’d walk until they came to a small town or a row of abandoned houses, staying for a night or two, scrounging for food wherever they could. Sometimes they’d come across people, some would offer them food and be on their way, whilst others threw threats at them to leave them be or run away from them in fear of being robbed. The world was a different place, but they knew they had no choice but to get used to it.

It was a hot day when Aaron and Eric came across an uninhibited house in the middle of a field. It used to be a farm by the looks of it, a giant, red barn not far off in the distance, some empty horse stables to its left, and some pens that clearly used to hold chickens. The two climbed the front porch steps quietly, Aaron holding his shot gun up ready whilst Eric held onto a hefty knife in a tight grip, before the red head slowly opened up the front door.

Aaron went in first, taking steady and noiseless steps as not to attract any unwanted attention from what might be inside. Eric followed behind, leaving the door wide open encase they needed a quick escape, they’d both learnt by now that during the end of the world they had to be fast, not just from the dead but from other humans too.

“Anything?” Eric whispered towards Aaron who was making his way into the kitchen area.

“Nothing,” Aaron whispered back. “Looks empty to… oh god.”

Eric stopped in his tracks and watched as Aaron stood near the doorway to the kitchen, slowly putting down his gun. He had a familiar look on his face that Eric saw far too often, disappointment, confusion, sadness.

“What is it?” Eric asked, not really looking forward to the answer.

Aaron sighed, grabbing the door handle and pulling it shut. “I think it’s the owners of this house.” Was all he said, and Eric understood.

The rest of the house had turned out to be empty. Eric had walked around the house closing all the curtains, whilst Aaron hefted chairs against the front and back door just encase, and by the time the sun had set they’d set up camp in the comfortable sized living room. Aaron had found some blankets hiding in the closet under the stairs, so the pair huddled together on the dusty sofa and sat silently, listening to the bugs squeaking and chirping outside as they ate half a chocolate bar each.

“You cold?” Aaron asked Eric when the silence became too much.

Eric, with his head resting on his boyfriend’s shoulder, looked up at him. “Just a little.”

“Want me to light the fire?”

“No.” Eric said with a shiver. “God knows what we’ll attract.”

Aaron nodded, it was a silly question really, but truth be told the house was freezing and he could see the tips of Eric’s nose and ears turning red.

“We could get naked though.”

Aaron laughed out loud at Eric’s idea and the cheeky smile that appeared on his face. “Yeah? Are you really cold or just trying to get my clothes off, Eric?” Aaron asked with a grin.

Eric shrugged, laughing lightly. “Well, both.”

Turns out sleeping naked on the couch with the layers of blankets wrapped around them wasn’t such a bad idea. With Eric practically wrapped up in Aaron’s arms, his body was feeling a whole lot warmer.


	7. Day 1,922

“ERIC, RUN!”

Eric didn’t need to be told twice. As soon as he saw Aaron running towards him, followed by a rather large herd of zombies, the red head was up off the floor and taking a hold of Aaron’s hand as they ran for their lives.

They’d come across a small town somewhere east of Washington D.C according to a sign, which meant that they’d doubled back on their route and found themselves back in their home state. It hadn’t made a difference since they’d been walking for months now and hadn’t really planned on going anywhere specific, and when they’d come across the empty, undead free town they were more than relieved at finding somewhere to stay for the night.

That was until Aaron had gone alone to find some grub at one of the town’s old bakeries. He’d just about managed to fit some tins of god only knows what into his bag when he’d heard them, snarling, moaning, wailing, as they shuffled their feet against the concrete. Aaron was out the door in seconds, practically inches away from the first corpse that reached its rotten hands out towards him. He’d dodged it just in time, his heart skipping a beat at the near miss before he was sprinting down one of the streets and turning a corner to find Eric.

As soon as he felt Eric grip his hand he was darting down the road, both men suddenly fearing for their lives for the first time in a while.

“Keep going!” Aaron yelled, as they turned a corner.

Neither slowed down as they ran down another empty street, past broken down cars and bloodied dead bodies on the ground. It felt like they’d been running for hours on end as they got closer to the end of the road, Aaron beginning to feel panic rising in himself as Eric felt sick to the stomach at the thought of all those walkers following so close behind.

It didn’t take long for the couple to be slowed down as they ran past a brick building. Out from the alleyway to their right came a walking corpse, jaw practically dangling off, knotted hair smeared in crimson, body cloaked in dirt and blood from top to bottom. Aaron noticed it first, with one swift movement he came to an abrupt stop and threw himself in front of Eric, the biter dived towards them as Aaron grabbed a hold of the creature by its shoulders.

“Aaron!” Eric gasped, almost losing his footing as his boyfriend fought against the walker’s weight. “Keep him still!”

Aaron dug his fingers into the corpse and tried with all he had to keep it at arm’s length. “A little hard to keep him still!”

Eric, in panic, yanked at the dagger that rested in his belt, but of course the damn thing kept getting stuck in the loop holding it in.

“Eric!” Aaron shouted in sheer distress.

“Got it!” Eric cried.

The red head quickly took his place beside Aaron and with one hasty swing of his arm he slid the blade into the biter’s skull, its body going slack and falling with a loud thud to the ground. Aaron sighed heavily in relief.

“Thanks, Eric.”

“Didn’t think I was going to let you get eaten, did you?” Eric chuckled, slipping his knife back into place.

Aaron grinned, punching Eric playfully on the arm.

Reality soon hit them when they heard shuffling feet getting closer. Smiles were swiftly wiped off their faces when they saw a few of the dead turning the corner, and heading straight for them.

“We need to get out of here.” Aaron said, automatically taking a hold of Eric’s hand.

“We should hide, Aaron.” Eric said as they began walking fast.

“Yeah, yeah would be best.”

Eric then looked down the alley as they passed, noticing the side of the building had a metal staircase leading to a door on the second floor.

“Aaron.” He tugged the other man into the alleyway.

Aaron had no idea what was on Eric’s mind as he was pulled down the backstreet, more corpses littering the floor and dozens of dustbins on their sides with garbage spilling out. It wasn’t until Eric was leading him over to a metal stairway that he understood what he was doing.

Hastily they climbed the stairs two at a time, never once letting go of each other’s hands until they reached the top. They gave one another a look as they stood outside the thick, steel door, both feeling their hearts beat inside their chests as Aaron reached for the door handle. They held their breaths, the sound of approaching feet seconds away from turning the corner, and Aaron grasped the handle and pushed down.

The handle gave way with a slight screech. Eric sighed audibly next to his boyfriend who quickly opened the door all the way.

“Hurry!” Aaron gestured Eric to go into the lit room first.

Aaron dived in right after him and hurriedly closed the door behind them, making sure not to make too much noise when sliding the hatch and locking them inside. The only sound that could be heard was of their heavy breathing, and the moaning of the monsters outside, dragging their heavy feet along the cobble.

“Do you think they’ll follow us?” Eric asked, a slight tremor in his voice.

Aaron shook his head. “No, no they’re too stupid.”

Eric couldn’t help but smile.

Turns out they’d ended up in an empty, small room with a huge hole in the roof. They weren’t going to complain since they technically had shelter and a hiding place from the undead that were sneaking about, and they did snatch a blanket from a house not long ago. Both men took a quick glance around the place, deciding it had nothing but an empty saucepan in one corner and a dirty desk chair in the other.

The sun was starting to set when they both sat down opposite the window, blanket shared between them as they held onto one another for comfort and warmth. It wasn’t exactly what they had in mind when they wanted to find somewhere to sleep for the night, the floor was cold and hard, the air was quite chilly and now and again they could hear walkers outside shuffling by. But they were safe, for one more night.

The couple couldn’t sleep yet. Too stunned by their close encounter hours before, the closest encounter they’d had since the beginning of the end of the world. Eric couldn’t stop talking about how he missed his favourite chocolate bars and milkshakes, Aaron sitting contently as he listened to his boyfriends soft voice.

His comfort didn’t last long when he decided to straighten out his leg, letting out a hiss as he squeezed his eyes shut. Of course, Eric noticed.

“Aaron?” he said as he sat up. “What’s the matter?”

“Nothing.” Aaron answered quickly, biting his bottom lip.

Eric just rolled his eyes. “Quit lying and tell me what’s wrong.”

Aaron sighed in defeat. Slowly he turned his leg to the side to reveal a tear along his jeans about four inches long, it had obviously been bleeding quite a bit from the amount of dry blood coated on the clothing.

“Shit, Aaron!” Eric gasped in shock. “When the hell did you do that?” he asked as he moved to get his bag.

“When we were running up the stairs I think.” He answered. “Caught it on something sticking out of the staircase.”

Eric wanted to knock Aaron’s head against the wall, but decided he was in enough pain as it was. “You should have told me Aaron, it could be infected or something.”

Aaron just shrugged as Eric brought out his first aid kit sitting in his bag, before he started pulling stuff out and scattering them all over the floor in frustration. The brunette could tell by the worried look on Eric’s face that he’d made the wrong move.

“Sorry.” Aaron said. “I just didn’t want to worry you, after all that running and fearing for our lives and I go and cut myself on a damn staircase. With all the adrenaline and such I didn’t really notice anyway.”

“Aaron,” Eric began as he teared open a packet with antibacterial wipes inside. “you can’t keep something like this from me, okay? No matter what, we’re in this together and if you’re hurt I want to help you, adrenaline or not!”

Aaron bowed his head in defeat. “I know, I’m sorry Eric.” He hissed when his lover teared a bigger hole in his jeans and applied the antiseptic. “Ouch.”

“Serves you right.” Eric grinned cheekily. “Next time tell me.”

“Yes, sir.” Aaron chuckled lightly, dying to rub at the wound from the slight itch and pain.

It didn’t take long for Eric to clean out the cut with a couple of wipes, and bandage it with a large plaster. Luckily the wound wasn’t too deep and Eric even joked that he wouldn’t have to amputate his boyfriend’s leg, Aaron’s response being a nudge to the arm and a kiss on the lips as a thank you.

“No other injuries I should know about is there?” Eric asked with a smirk as he sat back against the wall.

Aaron laughed. “No, not that I know of.”

“Good.” Eric smiled, reaching for the blanket that had fallen to the cold floor.

Aaron smiled softly as he watched Eric rearrange the cotton cover, draping it across them both. The red head snuggled in closely to his boyfriend and rested his head on his shoulder, closing his eyes in contentment as Aaron got comfortable with the bundle of Eric practically sitting in his lap. The older of the two couldn’t help but smile to himself as Eric let out a loud sigh.

“M’sleepy.” Eric mumbled.

“Go to sleep, sweetheart.” Aaron whispered, leaning down a little to kiss the top of Eric’s head. “Love you.”

“Love you too.” Was his quiet reply.

Aaron relaxed back against the wall, gazing out through the hole in the roof. By now his leg was gradually dying down to a dull pain but felt a lot better than it had before Eric had fixed it up. Aaron sighed inaudibly, counting each star in the dark sky in his mind, his head tilting to the side to rest against Eric’s gently. He hadn’t felt this peaceful in a long while, and it felt perfect.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not the best one but I hope you guys are enjoying :)
> 
> (And Aaron totally calls Eric sweetheart ;))


	8. Day 1,936

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> my friend asked me for something 'passionate yet funny'... so this is what I came up with! 
> 
> I also had to think up a last name for Aaron so gave him a good ole Welsh one that popped into my head! It's a little rushed but I hope you guys still enjoy.. :)

They were running from zombies again. It was becoming a habit really, every now and again they’d bump into either a couple of the dead things or a massive herd that kept together like one big flash mob. The only good thing that Eric said came out of it was the constant exercise, but Aaron would come back with the fact that their lack of food was thinning them out anyway. It just made Eric that tad bit more frustrated.

Even the weather had its bad days. Like today, two weeks after they’d been chased down the street and Aaron injuring his leg, which was by now healed nicely, they were trying to get away from a large group of walkers who crept up on them out of the woods. It was bad enough running in the sweltering heat, but when the skies opened up and chucked down heavy rain it was just as bad.

The sky was covered in black clouds, thunder roaring loudly every few minutes and the rain hadn’t stopped in at least an hour. Aaron and Eric were jogging down the road in their soaked through clothing, eyes squinting to try and see through the blinding raindrops as they came close to a garage up ahead. It looked deserted from the outside, a few cars lay forgotten next to the petrol pumps and empty cans of the gasoline littered the ground, the small building itself looked like it hadn’t been touched, until the pair went inside.

Aaron and Eric scrambled inside the shop, elated to be out of the cold, wet rain after hours on the road. Their hearts sank when they looked around and saw that the place had been ransacked from top to bottom, some shelves tipped over and every glass fridge smashed through. Eric groaned as he shook off some rain water on his coat before walking around, Aaron immediately locking the door after seeing the herd of walkers not far in the distance through the window.

“Are they heading this way?” Eric asked as he snooped around the small room.

“Don’t think so,” Aaron answered. “Looks like they’re heading for the cars, must be something inside.”

“As long as they don’t come here, I’m good with that.” Eric sighed, looking around at all the practically empty shelves and wasted food on the floor. “So, would you like a can of cold, out of date rice pudding, or some chocolate sauce off the floor?” Eric said, holding up a can and giving it a shake.

Aaron just laughed.

Half an hour later after they’d checked the back room and shed their drenched clothing to hang to dry over the shelves, Aaron and Eric sat behind the shop’s counter, wrapped in their blanket, taking turns eating out of a small can of rice pudding. Eric sat back against Aaron’s chest as he took a tiny spoonful of the dessert and put it in his mouth, grimacing at the fowl taste as it went down.

“You know,” Eric began, handing the last spoonful of the pudding over to his boyfriend. “If I knew we’d be sitting naked in a garage in the middle of the apocalypse months ago, I would have brought extra socks.”

Aaron chuckled, sitting back with a sigh and holding Eric closer. “Cold feet?”

“Cold everything.” Eric snorted, proving his point by placing a freezing cold hand onto Aaron’s bare thigh.

Aaron jumped in surprise. “Jesus Christ, Eric!” he almost shouted, but couldn’t help but laugh when he heard Eric’s cheeky cackle. “You’re evil you know that?”

Eric just nodded and tossed his head to the side, using one hand to pull Aaron’s head forward to meet him in a kiss. The kiss started off sweet and innocent before Eric turned to his side for better access, slipping his tongue passed his lover’s lips. Aaron moaned into the kiss, wrapping his arms tighter around his smaller boyfriend.

It had been so long since they’d done anything remotely as passionate, being too caught up in trying not to get eaten by zombies and concentrating on finding food and water all day every day. So this, this was something the couple had missed one hell of a lot.

Eric broke the fervent kiss, breathing heavy between them. He grinned up at Aaron who looked like he was about to pass out. “You okay there?”

Aaron smiled blissfully. “Was that your way of asking for forgiveness?”

Eric shrugged. “Did it work?”

“Oh, it worked.”

They both laughed quietly before Aaron couldn’t help himself and kissed Eric hard on the lips, hands exploring in total need. “God,” Aaron breathed out between kisses. “I want you so badly right now.”

“Then what’s stopping you?” Eric asked in all seriousness.

“Eric,” Aaron said, letting out a frustrated sigh. “You know we can’t… you know… do that without protection.”

Aaron was expecting Eric to just except it and just start making out with him again before both of them exploded with want, but what he wasn’t expecting was the mischievous smirk that suddenly appeared on his boyfriend’s face. Aaron had seen that smirk before.

“Eric,” he said, sitting back a little to look him straight in the eye. “What are you thinking?”

Suddenly Eric was grinning from ear to ear before he reached behind Aaron to retrieve something, and held it up. “I’m thinking since someone left this box of condoms on the shelf, we could totally do it.”

Aaron stared at him with mouth wide open, then to the box of rubbers Eric held in his hand. “You little shit.”

Eric laughed out loud before Aaron tackled him to the floor, putting all his weight on top of him and holding his arms above his head. The red head continued to laugh as Aaron held him down. “You should have seen your face!”

Aaron laughed above him, his boyfriend’s laughter becoming contagious. “I am never trusting you ever again. That is the last time I let you seduce me, Mr. Raleigh!”

Eric chuckled. “Yeah right, now that we have a box of twenty condoms I doubt it, Mr. Howells.”

Eric was right of course. Within minutes the blanket was discarded, there was a lot more heavy breathing, and the box of condoms had been ripped open. It was safe to say the pair had completely forgotten about the herd of zombies chilling outside.


	9. Day 1,978

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry for the late post! Christmas and everything!
> 
> This one's just a little rushed and a bit long.. I had some requests off friends to do some worried Aaron, a passionate moment and sassy Eric because who doesn't love some sassy Eric! 
> 
> Enjoy! :)

“Hey Aaron,” Eric nudged his boyfriend, who was half asleep. “Guess what day it is.”

Aaron groaned, keeping his eyes shut and snuggling further into the car seat. Eric grinned down at his boyfriend before looking back at the diary he held in his hand, using the red pen he’d found not long ago to circle the bold letters that read October twenty fifth.

They’d found an abandoned car in the middle of the woods hours ago and decided they both needed rest and somewhere to stay for the night. Aaron had instantaneously collapsed into dream land in the backseat whilst Eric napped next to him for about twenty minutes before taking out his diary to read through what he’d written those past few months.

Not a lot had happened, chased by the undead, finding buildings to sleep in, scrapings of food to eat, same old every day. Each day Eric would take out his diary that he’d brought with him and cross out the date, hating the feeling of one day not knowing what day or month it was, the feeling of time lost and life coming to a standstill. So keeping track of the dates helped. It made him think of friend’s birthdays, memories he had from years before, events that were held in his hometown every year, holidays like Easter and thanksgiving.

And October the twenty fifth was one of his favourite days.

Eric smiled, tracing one last red circle around the date before sliding the green diary back into his backpack. The red head took another glimpse at his boyfriend who seemed to have slowly slipped back into sleep, before he flipped open the front pocket of his bag and pulled out two objects. He glanced at the objects in his hand before looking back at Aaron, biting his lip in thought, before deciding that he should let him sleep after all.

Aaron awoke with a start. Bolting upright in his seat he breathed heavy and uneasy, eyes darting around the car in worry after one of the worst nightmares he’d had in a while. It didn’t help that Eric was nowhere to be seen, he couldn’t even make out if he was outside of the car for the forest was now pitch black.

“Eric?” Aaron called, hand moving to the latch on the door.

Before the man could take a hold of it the door on the other side of the car opened up suddenly, making Aaron jump in surprise, and in flew Eric looking flushed and way too happy.

“Hey! You’re awake!” Eric grinned.

“Eric!” Aaron almost yelled, making Eric’s smile disappear and eyes widen in surprise. “Where the hell did you go? It’s dark out!”

Eric held up the torch they’d found the day before. “I used this.”

“Jesus Christ, Eric!” Aaron sighed, running a hand through his hair before bending forward in his seat, hands moving to cover his face. “Fuck.” He mumbled through his hands.

Eric suddenly felt like the biggest idiot in the world. “Aaron?” he practically whispered, putting a hand on his lover’s back, only now noticing that he was shaking. “God, Aaron, I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to… I… I was fine… I was just…”

“No.” Aaron grumbled, sitting up and taking a hold of Eric’s free hand. “I’m sorry, I overreacted.”

Eric gave his hand a squeeze, seeing the unshed tears behind Aaron’s eyes. “It’s okay, I get it. I should have said something, I just didn’t want to wake you.”

Aaron shook his head. “I had a nightmare, Eric.” He said. “It’s why I… I thought… shit I thought I was still asleep.”

Then Eric understood. “It wasn’t real, whatever you saw, it wasn’t real.”

“It felt real.” Aaron whispered, tightening his hold on his boyfriend’s hand. “They had you Eric, they had you and… and I couldn’t… god, I’ll never be able to get that image out of my head.”

“They don’t have me.” Eric said, making sure he had Aaron’s complete attention. “You hear? They don’t have me, and they never will. The only image you need to have in your head is of me naked and covered in that Belgium chocolate you like so much.”

And Aaron couldn’t help it, he laughed, the sound making Eric grin in triumph. “Damn it Eric,” Aaron sighed, not being able to contain his smile. “You always know how to turn a shitty situation into a good one, huh?”

“It’s what I’m here for.” Eric smiled toothily, reaching a hand up to wipe at a stray tear that had fallen down the other’s cheek. “But seriously though,” he said, “I’m here, okay? Whenever you have nightmares or if you need me, for anything, I’m here, and I’m not going anywhere.”

Aaron nodded, pulling Eric down to lay by his side, clutching onto him as tight as possible. The red head hung on just as tight as his eyes closed with his head against the other’s shoulder, before he knew it he was drifting off to the sound of Aaron’s humming of his favourite childhood lullaby.

This time it was Eric who woke with a start. The younger of the two almost jolted in his seat which made Aaron, who was still holding onto him, shift slightly to let him sit up. Aaron couldn’t help but smile at the look of utter confusion on Eric’s face as he gaped at him.

“You okay there, sleeping beauty?”

Eric sighed. “God damn it, we have got to stop falling asleep at the most inappropriate times.”

Aaron chuckled. “Inappropriate? How exactly?”

“How long was I out?” Eric asked, avoiding the other’s question entirely, fidgeting in his seat to get to his bag.

“Not long, I’d say half hour or so.”

“Oh,” Eric froze in his tracks, looking much more cheerful at the news. “So it’s still the same day then?”

Aaron nodded. “I’d say so yeah.”

“Okay, good!”

“Eric?” Aaron called, starting to wonder why on earth his boyfriend was rummaging through his bag like he was on a mission. “Why exactly does it have to be the same day, and what the hell are you trying to find?”

“You’ll see.” He sing-songed.

Aaron waited a good few minutes, after staring at Eric’s back the whole time as he fiddled with something he’d pulled out with a victorious cry. The older man got even more curious than to begin with when whatever Eric had in his hands suddenly lit up, before he turned around to face Aaron to show him what he held onto.

Eric grinned from ear to ear as he held onto an orange candle, about the size of his index finger, the flame flickering brightly in the darkness of the car. Aaron stared down at the candle then up at Eric in confusion.

“A candle?”

“Yeah.” Eric chuckled. “Happy birthday, handsome.”

Aaron kept staring for what seemed like forever at the thing before he realised that Eric was being serious. “It’s my birthday?”

“Yes,” Eric said. “It’s October the twenty fifth, I’ve been keeping tabs remember?”

“Yeah, yeah, your diary but… how did you… where on earth did you find a candle?”

Eric’s eyebrows shot so far up into his hairline they almost disappeared. “It’s your birthday which means you can totally get a birthday present off me, and yet you’re curious as to where I got the candle?”

“And the lighter.” Aaron grinned, laughing lightly at the way Eric started to pout. “I’m guessing you ransacked a store, right?”

“Yes,” Eric sighed, knocking Aaron’s knee with his own. “Now shut up so I can sing to you.”

Aaron laughed out loud, a feeling of content as Eric’s melodious voice reached his ears. He’d always love listening to Eric sing, his voice would constantly send him to sleep when they’d lie in bed at night or unwind on the sofa, when he’d feel down Eric would sing him his favourite songs to cheer him up, and listening to him burst out into song during a road trip was always great fun.

Getting to hear him sing made everything okay again.

“So,” Eric began after his tune of happy birthday. “Make a wish.”

Aaron smiled, locking eyes with Eric as he soundlessly made his wish. _I wish for Eric to be safe._ There’s nothing else he would or could wish for. And with that he leaned forward to blow out the orange candle.

“What you wish for?” Eric asked excitedly.

Aaron snorted. “It won’t come true if I tell you, Eric.”

Eric sighed. “Spoil sport.”

Aaron chuckled, taking the candle from his boyfriends hand and putting it on the seat beside him. “So. This birthday present you mentioned…”

Eric giggled, he thought Aaron would never ask, of course he just had to comply. So with that, the red head slung a leg across the other’s limbs before pushing himself all the way up, sitting himself in Aaron’s lap. Aaron beamed as Eric wound his arms around his neck and leaned in for a short and simple kiss on the lips.

“Since the shop’s stock is pretty shit these days, I’m afraid my present is gonna have to be pretty physical.” Eric said with a straight face.

“Oh yeah?” Aaron said, trying so hard not to break into a fit of giggles. “How physical?”

“You’re going to have to move quite a bit.” Eric shrugged, his façade starting to crumble as Aaron couldn’t stop himself from laughing a little. “How’s your flexibility?”

Aaron burst out laughing, making Eric lose it seconds later. “Damn it Eric, I can never be serious around you.”

“That’s because I’m hilarious.” Eric chuckled, leaning forward to plant a kiss to Aaron’s forehead. “And I totally blame you for making me break character so quickly.”

“I’ll take the blame,” Aaron said as his hands moved along Eric’s back and pulled him in closer. “Just as long as I get my present.”

“Oh you’ll get it.” Eric said, slowly starting to unbutton the other’s shirt. “Think you can keep up, old man?”

Aaron tugged Eric forward and drew him into a fervent kiss, hands gripping clothes and hair and breathing suddenly becoming heavy. “I think I can handle it.” Aaron mumbled between kisses, holding onto Eric as he tipped him onto his back.

The orange candle and the nightmare were completely forgotten for quite some time.

“Eric?” Aaron whispered into the dark a few hours later, as the two lay across the backseat of the car, Eric’s back fitting snuggly against Aaron’s front.

“Yeah?” Eric answered shortly after.

“Thank you.”

Eric was silent for a few seconds. “Did you just thank me for sex?”

Aaron laughed wholeheartedly, knowing that Eric knew exactly what he was thanking him for. The candle, the song, everything. “Yes Eric, for the sex. Thank you for the great sex.”

Eric chuckled, gripping Aaron’s hand tighter in his own. “You’re welcome, Aaron.” He said softly. “Anything for you.”

Minutes later Aaron could hear the heavy, level breathing of his lover, telling him that he’d fallen asleep. He smiled to himself, placing a kiss on the back of Eric’s shoulder before he too drifted into unconsciousness. This time, Aaron’s dream was something he could smile about.


	10. Day 2,023

It was cold. It was cold, and windy, and raining buckets full. Washington had been sunny, and a little warm for weeks, and the one day Aaron and Eric decide to move onto somewhere new to find more food and other gear, the skies decide to open and rain down on them. They’d been on the road for what felt like hours, it had started pouring lightly at first, that was until they’d found a road to walk down and got drenched within seconds. 

The only luck they’d had was not bumping into any undead on their trail for at least an hour. That was until they’d strolled into an open space on either side of the road, a small herd stumbling towards them on their left. Eric hadn’t the energy to bother running for it, nor did Aaron who just sighed at the sight of them. They’d been running for too long now, they were tired, cold, wet, hungry and really not in the mood.

“Come on,” Aaron said across the patters of the rain, putting an arm around Eric and pushing him on. “We’ll find somewhere to hide.”

But of course there wasn’t anywhere to hide. On both sides of them were open fields all around, trees dotted here and there, no houses or barns in sight. 

“There’s nowhere to hide Aaron.” Eric groaned wearily. “What are we going to do?”

Aaron kept a hold of the other man, their pace quickening at the realisation that there was nowhere to run. “We’ll find somewhere, just keep going.”

So the couple did just that. They walked in the rain until they were a good distance away from the crowd of walkers, their gruesome figures just a dark outline against the falling rain. Once Aaron felt like they were safe for now, he directed Eric onto the grass, the pair trudging through the muddy field to try and find somewhere to lay low for the night. 

Yet again it felt like they walked for hours, both men getting fed up from the soggy socks to the zombies following behind who clearly weren’t giving up anytime soon. It seemed like fate hated them that day for nothing or no one was around to give them a break. Eric was two seconds away from plonking his butt down in the mushy grass and calling it a night until Aaron spoke up. 

“Look,” he said, pointing to his right. “The tree.”

Eric gazed at it in confusion. “Yes, it’s a tree.” He said with a teasing tone. “Too bad it’s not sprouting apples, or even better, a nice stack of pancakes and bacon.”

Aaron chuckled, suddenly changing direction and taking Eric with him. “We’ll have to hide there, or those damn biters will be following us in every direction.”

“Hide? Aaron, unless it has a secret door to Narnia I doubt we can hide in a tree.”

“We can, just not inside it.”

And that was how they ended up sitting in a huge tree. It took them only minutes for Aaron to hoist Eric up onto the first thick branch before being pulled up, then climbing a little higher to settle down near enough to the top. Aaron put his back to the trunk before Eric fell back to rest on his boyfriend’s chest, and within seconds Eric had drifted off into a deep, needed sleep. They still got wet, but with the bushy blanket of leaves above them it wasn’t so bad as before. 

Thankfully the zombies were stupid enough to just walk on by the tree, not noticing the two figures sitting above them quietly. Eric in dreamland as Aaron held onto him, looking out at the foggy field and thinking to himself. 

“Did I just fall asleep?” Eric grumbled minutes later, as the skies calmed and darkened.   
  
Aaron hummed his reply, leaning his head forward to plant a kiss on the other’s cheek. “You needed it, sweetheart.”

Eric sighed. “You should get some sleep too.” He said, holding onto him tighter. 

“You need it more than I do, I got some yesterday.”

Eric just rolled his eyes. But of course his boyfriend would be bickering with him about such a thing, and making some dumbass excuse to add to it. 

“Don’t you start, you haven’t slept in probably a hell of a lot more than twelve hours, so shut up and sleep.”

Aaron chuckled softly. “I have no choice do I?”

“Nope,” Eric said, twisting around a little to look him in the eye. “You know how arguments with me go, Mr curly locks.”

“Oh, I do.” Aaron grinned, inching forward to steal a quick kiss. “They always end in me losing.”

“Exactly,” Eric grinned back. “Now get some sleep.”

“Yes, sir.”

And with that Aaron leant back against the hard trunk of the tree, wiggling a tad to get comfy, drawing Eric back onto his chest again. Having Eric that close always made him feel more at ease and relaxed, knowing that he wasn’t in any danger or close to it, which made it much easier to close his eyes and drift into a deep sleep. 

Eric turned a little to the side, smiling back at his boyfriend who was practically knocked out with his head resting on the bark, mouth just slightly ajar and snoring very gently.

“Goodnight, you big idiot.” He laughed quietly to himself, circling back to look out at the open field in front of them.

It was times like these which made everything seem normal again. Just him, Aaron, the sound of rain falling lightly onto the leaves, and the wind making the trees dance in the distance. But it wasn’t going to last, these moments never did, for in the morning everything would be back to the way it was. Searching for food and shelter, feeling exhausted, walking for hours on end, and running from the living dead. 

Eric exhaled deeply, clutching tighter to Aaron’s hand held in his. Just another day at the end of the world, just another day of surviving. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> promise the next one will be longer!


	11. Day 2,121

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Anyone else happy as hell Eric and Aaron got lots of screentime together last week? No? Just me?

It had been three months of nothing. Three months of staying in the same small town in an abandoned bar, drinking the leftover fruit juices and flat pop, eating the stale canned food from the cellar, keeping dry and warm, meeting a couple of friendly people who were walking through to get to the rest of their family, and being able to put their packet of twenty rubbers to good use. Three months of near enough normality. Until that damn herd of about a hundred dead guys came strolling into the town.

Eric wanted to torch the bastards for ruining their five star apocalypse experience, but Aaron of course had been a party pooper and yanked the matches and oil out of his hand. Eric was going to forgive them for bringing their smelly, rotten corpses near his end of the world hotel room, until the things started walking straight towards said building. Courtesy of Aaron’s butter fingers of course.

They thought they’d be safe keeping quiet behind the thick walls of the bar, practically holding their breath as the zombies walked on by. And then Aaron went and dropped the one thing, yes the one thing that he held in his hand, which was none other than a bottle of brandy he’d found on the shelf that he was trying to put back. Aaron didn’t even like brandy.

Eric had stared at him in complete bafflement as the bottle fell to the floor with a loud smash, shards of glass flying in all directions. Aaron looked back at him with the most apologetic face he could muster, eyes wide like a lost puppy.

“I hope there’s another resort like this one around.” Eric said, before going straight into action and cutting Aaron out of his stupor. “Grab the food, let’s go!”

Aaron didn’t need to be told twice. The couple flew around the room grabbing as many essentials as they could find. Cartons of apple juice, tins full of rice and chocolate pudding, a blanket, some bandages they’d found nearby and some sharp knifes that had come in handy for their protection. All stuffs were lobbed into their backpacks, just as the undead came knocking at their door. More like banging on the windows, hands clawing at the walls, breaking down the barrier between them and possible death.

“Hurry!” Aaron practically yelled, swinging his bag onto his shoulder and opening the door to the back room.

That had been about ten minutes ago. After they’d escaped out the back exit of the bar, came face to face with a hell of a lot of zombies, and fought their way through them to get out of the town. They’d jogged a little to keep a fair space between them and the walkers, and continued to walk from then on along the deserted, long road leading to who knew where.

Eric strode in the lead along the side of the road, balancing himself on the edges where a small dip curved down into the woodland, while Aaron stayed slightly behind watching his every uneasy step.

“You can stop that, right now.”

Aaron was pulled out of his trance as Eric spoke up, carrying on with his balancing act. “Stop what?” the brunette asked.

Eric stopped then, spinning himself around to look up at a deflated Aaron. “The guilt. You look like someone just stole your favourite toy, Aaron. Don’t feel guilty about it.”

Aaron sighed, of course Eric knew exactly what he was thinking. “It was my fault though.”

“It was an accident.”

“Still my fault, Eric.”

The red head swung his arms in the air in frustration. “Aaron, it could have happened to anyone! You didn’t mean it, you tried to be quiet, but obviously Mr. High and mighty upstairs had other ideas.”

“I should have just left it in my hand.” Aaron said, looking down at the ground as not to see the upset look on his boyfriend’s face, feeling so full of guilt for doing something so stupid. “You were so happy there, happier than I’ve seen you in so long and now I’ve gone and ruined it.”

“Oh, for goodness sake.”

Eric didn’t want to throw words back and forth, he didn’t want to see that kicked puppy look on his boyfriend’s face, so he shut him up with a hug instead. The younger threw himself forward and wrapped his arms around Aaron’s middle, making sure to get his point across by holding on a little too tight.

“Shut up, okay?” Eric whispered next to his ear, just about hearing the chuckle that passed Aaron’s lips. “We weren’t going to be there forever and you know it, so now’s the time to move on to somewhere new. Just, next time leave the brandy alone.”

This time he did get an audible laugh from his boyfriend, followed by a quiet, “I love you, Eric.”

Eric smiled against the other man’s shoulder, about to return the words until he opened his eyes and gasped. “Uh, Aaron?”

“Yeah?”

“I think we’d better go.”

It didn’t take long for Aaron to notice the low groaning from somewhere in the distance behind him, nor did it take long for him and Eric to break apart, grab each other’s hand and keep walking. There coming over the miniature hill were the herd of the dead, the same ones who’d taken a liking to their nice, homely bar, every single one of them.

“Stalkers!” Eric shouted out, earning a laugh from Aaron.

It soon became serious when they noticed something else. On the right side of the road, through the woodland, hobbled more of the frightening figures with their snarling jaws and hungry eyes. One by one they came closer and closer into view, seeming more determined at the sight of breathing prey.

“Shit.” Aaron cursed under his breath, all guilt showering over him once more, thinking to himself that if he hadn’t have dropped that bottle then they wouldn’t be surrounded by hundreds of these flesh eating creatures.

But there was no time to dwell on it as the walkers practically charged at them. Aaron tightened his grip on Eric’s hand and began to make a run for it, looking back every few seconds to make sure the damn things were getting further and further behind, whilst Eric scanned in front encase there were more of them lurking up ahead.

All looked hopeful until they got out into the open and away from the forest, cutting through an open field. What they didn’t expect was for the field to be so muddy and rough, making it hard to run across and easier for the walkers to catch up, and what they weren’t planning on was for Eric’s foot to slip between two rocks and cause him to fall flat onto the ground.

With a painful cry Eric landed hard on his stomach and right on top of a few sharp rocks, head just centimetres away from one. Aaron in a state of utter horror didn’t hesitate to get down on his knees in the mud and gently help Eric turn over, noticing the pained expression on the other’s face.

“Shit!” Aaron breathed out, if there was one thing worse than living in this messed up world it was seeing his boyfriend on the ground in pain, looking like he was about to pass out. “Eric? Sweetheart?” he comforted, helping him to sit up.

“Ah!” Eric hissed as he moved his leg, hand gripping under his thigh as blood mixed with mud around his knee where a large tear had been made. “My knee, fuck, it hurts.”

Aaron took a quick glance to his left, there, just a few meters away, were the hungry walkers. Some sunk into the sodden mud, some having fallen and unable to move, but the others had found a way through with no trouble in the least. Suddenly Aaron had no time to think at all before he went into ‘get the hell out of there’ mode.

“I’m sorry Eric,” he said before he wound an arm under his boyfriend’s knees and around his back. “This is probably going to hurt, but I’ve got to get you out of here.”

Eric’s eyes widened in realisation. “You’re not going to do what I think- ah!” Eric clenched his teeth through the pain as Aaron lifted him off of the ground, his arms winding around Aaron’s neck as he hid his head in the other’s collar to try and muffle the cries he couldn’t help but let escape.

“I’m so sorry!” Aaron apologised, holding Eric tight in his arms as he trod with every bit of strength he had through the rough terrain. “I promise I’ll get that knee better, I’ve just got to get you to safety first.”

Eric answered with a whimper, making Aaron’s heart sink at the unfamiliar sound. He hated this, every minute of it, the situation had been bad enough but of course it had to get even worse with Eric being the one to get injured. If he hadn’t had dropped that bottle then none of this would have happened.

 

 

They didn’t know how long it took before they came across an abandoned house somewhere in the middle of the field. The only problem was that half of it had been burnt down, the front of it mostly gone whilst the upstairs wasn’t exactly accessible. But Aaron knew they had no choice, Eric was bleeding and in unbearable pain, they didn’t know how far the next shelter would be, and they still had a fair few of the undead on their tails. Fortunately, most hadn’t been able to get across the muddy turf.

Luckily, as Aaron carried Eric up the porch steps and through the wall-less living room, he noticed one room downstairs hadn’t been taken down by the fire. Carefully he set Eric down on the blackened sofa, the red head half out of it, and raising his knife for precaution he opened the door next to the stairs with one swift movement. It was a bathroom, a small but very empty bathroom.

“Eric,” he quickly went over to the smaller man, kneeling beside him and placing a hand gently on his good knee. “Hon, we can sleep in there for the night, okay? I need to take a look at that knee.”

Eric groaned, having the feeling of wanting to cut his stupid leg off. “Can’t we just sleep here?”

Aaron couldn’t help suppress a smile. “Eric, the sofa’s burnt and it’s going to be freezing soon, and you must have noticed the walls are missing, right?”

Eric glared. “Mean.”

“Tell that to the dead that are going to be roaming around soon.”

After helping Eric (who was cursing every last zombie in the world) into the bathroom to sit on the fluffy mat by the sink, Aaron shut the door behind them and thanked whoever was listening that it had a lock. He turned to look at Eric and felt that stab of guilt hit him in the gut once again at the sight, his lover looked so pale and exhausted slumped against the wall in his dirt covered clothes, his knee covered in dried blood and mud.

“Don’t you dare.”

Aaron was cut out of his thoughts at Eric’s sharp tone. “I’m warning you, Howells.” He said, looking straight at him. “Cut it out.”

“What?” Aaron asked, avoiding eye contact as he got down next to him to get started on his knee.

“You know exactly what.” Eric sighed, flinching as Aaron carefully inspected the wound. “You had that look on your face again, it wasn’t your fault I got hurt, idiot.”

Aaron didn’t say a word, not wanting to go through this again when Eric needed something other than a fight. The red head of course wasn’t giving in though, he always won the arguments after all.

“You ignoring me now?” he asked, eyebrows rising as Aaron leaned forward to undo his belt. “Seducing me will not steer me off topic, babe.”

Aaron couldn’t help but grin. “I don’t want to ruin your trousers, need to take them off to get to your injury.”

Eric huffed, using his hands to lift himself off his bottom so that Aaron could slide his jeans off carefully, taking his time when Eric sucked in a breath as he pulled the material off of the wound. It looked even worse now that they could see what was hidden under the cloth. A deep gash started at the side of Eric’s knee making its way down to just under it, the cut was plastered in dried blood mixed with dirt and grit which probably made it a hell of a lot more painful.

“That’s it,” Eric began, as Aaron swung his bag off his shoulders to look inside. “I’m done for. I’ll never be able to show off my legs in public again, goodbye summer time at the beach.”

Aaron chuckled. “I’m sure you’d look good in shorts even with a cut knee.”

“You wouldn’t dump me for a hot brunette with knees to die for?”

“Wouldn’t dream of it.” Aaron grinned at him, shaking his head as Eric sent him a wink.

“Good, red heads are better in bed anyhow, no offence.”

Aaron chuckled once more, pulling out a half full bottle of saline. “None taken.”

Eric laughed, watching as Aaron got a hold of a cloth inside his backpack and poured a small amount of the solution onto it. He was about to bring up the topic of Aaron’s obvious guilt, he hadn’t forgotten, but was rudely cut off by the agonizing pain that shot through his leg as Aaron dabbed at the wound with the cloth.

“Fuck!” Eric let out as quietly as he could, clenching his hands into fists and eyes shut tight to try and push away the pain. “Holy… shit a brick.”

Aaron gave him an apologetic look even though he couldn’t see him with his eyes scrunched shut, but he had no choice but to carry on, he had to get the injury cleaned and fast. Being as tender and cautious as he could Aaron continued to wipe the cut, Eric breathing deeply through the pain as every touch from the solution got easier to bear.

Once that was taken care of Aaron pulled out the bandages he’d thankfully snatched up at the bar, hoping they’d be enough to cover Eric’s wound since they looked way too small. But in the end they wrapped nicely around his knee, one of them just enough to fit properly.

“There,” Aaron said once he was all done. “How’s that feel?”

“Fantastic.” Eric sighed, all that clenching and trying to stop himself from shouting out loud had made him sleepy. “God, I need a nap.”

Aaron smiled, packing away their things and helping Eric to take his bag off his back. “You need to eat first, then you can sleep.”

Eric saluted, having no energy to argue. So after Aaron had moved around to sit next to Eric against the wall, yanked out a blanket to drape across their legs, and handed the smaller man a tin of chocolate pudding, they settled down to enjoy it as best they could even though it was months out of date. Soon Eric was content with a few spoonfuls of the stuff and his leg had died down to a dull pain sensation, with a little help from Aaron he shifted to lay down on his side on the bathroom carpet, his boyfriend joining him seconds later.

The two faced each other as they lay there, Aaron’s arm draped across his waist and hand consciously rubbing circles on his back. “Your leg feeling better?” he practically whispered, the room’s only light coming from the moon shining through the gaps in the door.

“Yeah,” Eric smiled, running a hand down the other’s jawline. “It’ll get there.”

Aaron nodded, something in the bag he laid his head on digging into his skull. “Not exactly a five star resort, huh?”

“No,” Eric answered seriously. “But I’m with you, so it doesn’t matter whether we’re in a luxury building or a burnt down house.”

Aaron nodded as best he could, reaching up to take a hold of Eric’s hand and plant a soft kiss atop his knuckles. “I really am sorry.” He whispered.

“Don’t.” Eric quietly replied, resting their joined hands between them. “Please, Aaron. Let’s not talk about this again, okay? We’re both alive, that’s all that matters.”

“Okay.”

“Okay.” Eric smiled, leaning across to peck the other on his lips. “How about a game of I spy?”

Aaron chuckled, trust Eric to come up with something like that to lighten up the mood, it’s what he loved about him. They were stuck in a small bathroom God only knew where, Eric had an injured leg and there were probably roamers walking right on by at that very moment, but Eric always found a way of turning bad situations into good ones.

“Me first!” Eric grinned, he totally had this in the bag, sleep be damned. “I spy with my big brown eye,” Aaron laughed. “Something that starts with a Z.”

“Zombies.”

“Nope.”

“Eric,” Aaron smiled broadly. “There’s nothing else that could possibly begin with a Z.”

Eric rolled his eyes. “Babe, there’s no Zombies in the bathroom.”

Aaron chuckled softly, he did have a point. “Okay, I give up.”

“What?” Eric looked appalled. “You’re so bad at this game.”

“There’s nothing in this bathroom besides a toilet, a sink and a horrible pink mat.”

Eric used his free hand to point down at his jacket. It took Aaron about five seconds to realise exactly what Eric’s word had been, there written on the front of his coat in tiny, silver writing was Zeros. Aaron laughed wholeheartedly, trust his fashionista of a boyfriend to pick a clothing line as his word.

Erin beamed. “I’m a genius.” He said proudly. “Come on loser, let’s see what you can spy besides a toilet, sink and pink mat.”

Aaron jokingly sighed, but if he was being honest with himself this silly game was making him feel a whole lot better. So taking a quick glance around the room he spotted an item to use as his word, and happily played along.

“I spy with my big blue eye, something that starts with a P.”

And that’s how they spent the night, completely forgetting about nap time. Their game of I spy gradually turned into a few word games, which then turned into them talking about what food they missed the most, that then turned into a thumb war. Soon the two felt drowsy, Eric slipping into sleep first before Aaron pulled him in close, and feeling more at ease with the circumstances he too joined the other man in dreamland.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Eric calling Aaron babe is canon and it's awesome.


	12. Day 2,190

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The end is nigh!
> 
> I hope you guys have enjoyed this series of Aaron and Eric goodness! We definitely need a lot more of those two in the show!!Thanks for your wonderful comments :)

Eric didn’t get sick often, but when he did it never usually stopped him from getting on with his day. Unless they counted the one time he’d caught a bug and decided to stay in a bundle of blankets for two days, declaring Aaron as his new man servant. He absolutely hated not feeling normal, head hurting, nose running, back aching, whatever it was it put a huge damper on his day but he’d always get up and tell his illness where to go shove it with a box full of medicine and a nice, hot water bottle. Too bad he was stuck in the end of the world.

Currently Eric felt the nastiest he’s ever felt in his entire life, worse than the time he had a bug. And that was saying something. His head felt like little men were drilling away at his skull, whilst his body ached all over, he could hardly breathe through his nose, and his throat felt like they had a dozen nails stuffed right in there. It didn’t help that they were walking through an open field in a very cold, very loud rainstorm. Eric wanted to curl up in a ball and die.

“I want to curl up in a ball and die!”

Eric clung to his jacket as he dragged his feet through the squelching grass, sniffling lousily as the rain hammered down on him. “Kill me now.”

Aaron came up behind him, wrapping an arm around his shoulders, hoping it was at least a bit of comfort for him. “We’ll find some shelter soon, there must be something out there.”

“Typical,” Eric sniffed. “It had to piss it down as soon as we stepped out into the middle of nowhere, didn’t it?”

“Of course it did,” Aaron couldn’t help but grin. “We have the best luck.”

Eric snorted, it came out more like a cross between a sniff and a sneeze. “If we come across another zombie I might just let him eat me.”

Aaron chuckled, clutching to him tighter. “Too bad I won’t let him.”

“You always spoil my fun.”

By the time the rain had calmed down to a light downpour, Eric wanted more than anything for one of the undead to pop up and eat him up. From the storm the grass had turned into a ground full of muddy gunk that the couple were trying to trudge through, Eric trying desperately not to give up and collapse into a heap of limbs, luckily Aaron was practically carrying most of his weight.

“Not far now,” Aaron said, glancing down at his boyfriend who looked paler than normal. “Hold on, okay? We’ll find a nice cosy shelter, I’ll get a fire going and boil that can of soup we found a week ago.”

Eric coughed into his hand. “That… sounds like heaven… right now.”

Aaron smiled, planting a kiss atop of Eric’s damp hair. “Not far.”

By some miracle, Aaron was right. Minutes later the two came across a wooden fence, they climbed over and trekked to the right, almost crying in complete delight when in the distance they saw a burnt down house, a large timber barn to its left. They wasted no more time on their trek and headed straight for it, Eric feeling more and more weak the closer they got.

As soon as they were inside Aaron locked the door and checked any nooks and crannies for unwanted dead guys, whilst Eric threw all precaution out the window and wobbled right on over to the big heap of straw at the corner of the barn. It wasn’t as gigantic as it looked from the outside, but it was a roof over their heads and they were just glad to be safe for one more night.

Except it wasn’t just one night that they ended up at the barn. One night turned into two, and on that night Eric’s bad cold had turned into something a whole lot worse than the night before. Aaron had tried so hard to keep him warm with piles of straw covering his shivering body, stripping him of his soaked through clothing and laying him close to his own naked self in hope that his body heat would help. He’d wanted badly to start a small fire, but Eric had practically begged him not to for he’d rather not have the walkers knocking on the barn door.

“Christ, Eric,” Aaron whispered against the sound of the howling wind outside, holding his palm flat against his boyfriend’s forehead. “You’re so hot.”

“Thanks.” Eric laughed, which quickly turned into a coughing fit.

Aaron sighed, of course he’d be making a joke at a time like this. “Eric, this isn’t the time.” He mumbled as he started unpacking everything inside their bags, bandages, food cans, a blanket, everything but medicine. “I’m going to have to find a town somewhere, I need to find you some antibiotics or something!”

“No!” Eric practically yelled in panic, hand whipping out to grab onto the other’s arm tightly. “Don’t, please Aaron, don’t leave me here.” His voice came out in a soft, pleading tone. “We haven’t split up since day one, don’t do it now.”

“Eric,” Aaron looked into his boyfriend’s begging eyes and suddenly had no idea what to do. “God, Eric.” He sat back against the heap of straw behind him, running a hand through his hair in defeat. “You’ve never been this sick before, sweetheart. I-I’m scared, I’m so fucking scared.”

Eric slowly moved over into the tiny space that separated them, slipping into the crook of Aaron’s arm and hugging the life out of him. “I’ll be okay.” He said, trying desperately not to cough or puke his guts out. “I’ll come with you, we’ll both go and find medicine.”

“No.” Aaron said sternly, tilting Eric’s head up by his chin to look him in the eye. “There’s no way in hell you’re leaving this shelter, Eric. You’re out of the rain here, where it’s warm, and safe from those monsters.” He ran a thumb along the red head’s lips gently. “You’re not risking your life out there, especially not like this.”

Eric tilted his head to the side, planting a soft kiss on the other man’s palm. “Aaron, if I stay here what’s to say I won’t get any better, I could be worse off sitting here, throwing up and coughing until my body gives up.”

“Don’t.” Aaron chocked, falling forward and pulling Eric into a hug. “Don’t say that.” He could feel the tear slipping down his cheek. He didn’t want to think of Eric being anything but alive and well.

Eric let Aaron hold him for what felt like hours, his own eyes sinking shut once in a while from pure exhaustion. He hadn’t realised he’d actually fallen asleep until he opened his eyes and he was resting back on the straw, Aaron sitting by his side staring off into space. A wet, cold flannel of some sort was laying across his forehead which in fact felt incredible, if it weren’t for the discomforting shakes his body was getting.

Aaron must have noticed his form shivering as he looked down to check, immediately turning to kneel beside the redhead. “Eric?” he reached out a hand to take away the cloth, placing the back of his hand there instead. “You’re fever’s better, you feeling cold?”

Eric nodded, rolling onto his side to try and stifle the cold air. “Bloody… freezing.”

“Here, have the blanket.” Aaron said as he threw the thin blanket across him. “I’m just glad your fevers gone down, you passed out earlier.”

“I passed out?” Eric asked in surprise, clinging to the blanket like a lifeline. That explained why he fell asleep so easily.

“Yeah,” Aaron mumbled, stabbing a tin can with his pocket knife. “Don’t do it again, you hear? I almost lost it.”

Eric responded by letting out a horrible, loud cough, curling into a ball at the pain in his chest as more followed. Aaron instantly put the tin down and essentially sprinted for the cup of rain water he’d left by the hole in the door, racing back towards Eric and lifting him into a sitting position. The younger man couldn’t stop coughing, his chest throbbing and throat stinging as it went on and on, Aaron rubbing soothing circles on his back with the cup of water waiting.

Eric wheezed deeply as he let out the last big cough, gripping his chest firm as if that would help ease the aching feeling inside. Aaron let out a breath he didn’t even know he was holding in, continuing to rub at the other’s back carefully, as he picked up the cup of water and had to force Eric to take slow sips.

“Drink, Eric.”

Eric obeyed at last, feeling the cool liquid somewhat soothe his throat. “Urgh…” he groaned. “that… sucked… really bad.”

Aaron heaved a sigh, taking Eric in his arms and kissing the top of his head. Eric was boiling up again. “We need to get you help, Eric.” He said quietly. “And fast.”

“I told you,” Eric whispered, his voice sounding raspy. “I’m coming with you.”

Aaron shut his eyes and exhaled deeply. He had a feeling Eric was going to win this round.

And as it turned out, Eric did win that round. After listing a hundred reasons why Eric shouldn’t leave the barn, the redhead came up with a hundred reasons why he should. Which he recited one after the other whilst packing his bag and eating a tin of dried up oranges, he then got up and wobbled his way over to the front of the barn and threatened that if Aaron didn’t let him go he’d open the door and ring the dinner bell for the zombies. Aaron had just wondered how Eric had gotten so stubborn, even when he was on the brink of bringing the oranges back up.

That’s exactly what happened an hour into their trek to find medicine. They’d just passed an abandoned car garage when Eric has fallen down on his knees in a ditch, and let out the contents of his stomach.

“Shit.” Aaron had hoped that he would keep it in this time around, but luck wasn’t on their side once again. Eric was heaving by the time he’d finished being sick, it had made him feel so weak that he’d dropped to the floor in a heap and let Aaron pick him up bridal style to carry him to wherever they were going. The only good thing was that the rain had settled for the time being, there wasn’t a drop coming down from the sky and not a black cloud in sight, Aaron thanked the heavens for at least some kind of blessing.

And it didn’t stop there. Minutes after Eric had thrown up Aaron had almost dropped him in utter shock as they came across a car, not just an abandoned car, but a working one. Aaron quickly helped Eric into the back seat to lay down, making sure he had plenty of water and a blanket, before jumping into the driver’s seat and speeding off down the road.

It was all going smoothly for a while, Eric was getting some sleep in the back and thankfully hadn’t been sick again, they’d only come across two walkers which Aaron had stabbed through the half open window, and the rain seemed to have moved on to the next state. It seemed like luck was finally on their side, until Aaron turned a corner and nearly drove right into a group of people.

There, in the middle of the pathway were two vehicles, one truck and one car, and sitting on the car’s bonnet were two men with large guns in their hands, another man and a woman standing beside the truck with weapons by their sides. As soon as he got close enough their heads turned in his direction and Aaron felt his heart skip a beat in pure terror. Not for himself, but for Eric who was sleeping fast in the back of the car. He just prayed to whoever could hear him that these people weren’t about to do any harm, or worse.

“Hey! You!”

Aaron almost jumped as the man beside the truck yelled in his direction, the brunette grasped the steering wheel tighter, preparing to run these guys over if he had to.

“Get out of the car!” the bearded man shouted. “Do you hear me? Get out!”

By this time the man had pointed his gun right at Aaron. But what confused him the most was when the woman stood beside the man, and snatched the gun right out of his hand. Aaron had no idea what they were talking about, but next thing he knew the man and woman were arguing over lord knew what, whilst the other two men on the bonnet laughed. Aaron thought now would be the perfect time to make a move and get Eric the hell out of there. That was until the man started walking towards him.

Aaron started to panic. The man was about a meter away from him when he held out his gun once more and pointed it at him, the other two joining him but keeping their guns to their sides but their eyes fixed on Aaron in the driver’s seat. The woman stayed where she was.

“I said get out.” The man said loud enough for Aaron to hear. He cocked his gun, and prepared to fire. “Now.”

Aaron held his hands in the air, having no choice but to do as the man told him. With one quick glance to make sure Eric was still asleep, he unhurriedly opened the car door and got out, feeling his heartbeat begin to quicken as the end of the man’s gun was inches from his face.

“Please,” Aaron said in desperation, thinking of only Eric. “Please just let us go… please, we don’t want to cause any trouble.”

Aaron hadn’t realised the mistake he’d made until it was too late. As the man’s eyes moved from Aaron to the car he knew he’d done a foolish thing, and he wanted to shoot himself for being so senseless.

“Us?” The man mumbled, looking right at Eric’s form on the back seat. “Get whoever’s in that car out, right now.”

“Please…”

“Now!”

“Okay, okay.” Aaron swallowed the hard lump in his throat, slowly stepping to the side of the car and opening the door.

Eric was hot to the touch when Aaron put a hand to his cheek, stroking his thumb gently across his warm skin in an attempt to rouse him from slumber. “Eric, sweetheart.” Aaron said in a whisper, feeling the guilt wash over him as Eric’s eyes fluttered open. “Eric, you have to come outside, okay? Just for a minute.”

“Whu?” Eric moaned as his head swam, his body aching all over. “Aaron?”

“Sh, it’s okay.” Aaron whispered, gently lifting Eric into a sitting position and winding his arm around his neck for support. “It’s going to be okay, Eric, I promise.”

With a quick tug Eric was up and out of the car with almost all his weight being held up by his boyfriend, his head pounded from the light outside and he tried hard to focus on what was going on. He just about yelped in surprise when he realised a bearded man and his two cronies were standing in front of them, a gun directed at their heads.

“Aaron?” Eric mumbled, feeling his body begin to shake.

“Shh,” Aaron held him tight, squeezing his waist in reassurance. “It’s okay, Eric. It’s okay.”

“Who are you?” Mr. Beard asked, frown on his face. “Where are you off?”

Aaron took a glimpse at Eric and saw that sweat was essentially soaking his face. “Please, I beg you to let us go. Were just survivors like you we just… I need to find him some medicine, please!”

Aaron could have sworn he saw the man lower his gun just a tad. “Why? Has he been bitten?”

“No!” Aaron quickly shot back. “No, he’s been ill for days, I think it’s the flu or something worse… he’s… he’s really sick! Please! I’ll do anything just… just let us go.”

As Aaron said it he felt Eric’s head drop onto his shoulder, the redhead’s breathing coming out in short gasps.

“Please!” Aaron bawled in utter desperation.

Before the beard man could say another word, Aaron felt Eric’s weight being lifted off of him, only to realise the blonde woman had suddenly appeared on Eric’s other side and was helping keep him standing.

“Get the car door open.” She said to the other men. “Now, you idiots!”

The men hesitated, but with an angry glare from her the men split and headed for the car in a sprint. “Come on,” the woman said, beginning to pull Eric along to the group’s car.

Aaron couldn’t believe what was happening. Something inside him told him he shouldn’t be trusting so easily, but on the other hand, something was telling him this woman, this determined woman was there to help them.

Within seconds they’d gotten Eric into the back seat of the stranger’s car, Aaron ran back to get their bags before joining his boyfriend in the back and resting his head in Aaron’s lap. Two of the guys got into their truck, whilst the bearded man got behind the steering wheel of the car as the woman got into the passenger’s side. They were hurtling off before Aaron could get his head around what just happened, his eyes not leaving Eric’s form as he clung to Aaron’s hand.

“I’m sorry about that.”

Aaron looked up at the sound of the woman’s voice. She had turned around to be able to see him, a sincere smile on her lips. “Those bullies can be a bit much sometimes.”

“Hey!” The bearded man growled. “Speak for yourself, blondie.”

Blondie rolled her eyes. “Anyway, this here is Butch he’s just a bit weary after we came across a couple of not so nice people a few days ago.”

Aaron nodded and let her speak on. “The other two are Heath and Tobin, they’re good guys. And I’m Denise, it’s nice to meet you.” She said with a smile.

“Uh… yeah…” Aaron stuttered, trying to find the right words to say, he felt nervous, tired, hungry, afraid, hopeful all at the same time. “I’m uh… I’m Aaron.”

“Hi, Aaron.” Denise gave a small wave and looked down at Eric. “Don’t worry, we have a doctor back at our community for…”

“Eric.”

“Eric.” Denise repeated with a grin. “Aaron and Eric, you guys look sweet toge-.”

“Wait.” Aaron blinked out of his day dream, all of a sudden he’d grasped exactly what Denise had said. “Did you just say community?”

“Yeah,” Butch answered for her from the driver’s seat, swerving to the left to hit a stray bitter. “We’re from a community not far from here, you may need to answer a few questions to get in though, God knows if we can trust you or not. Denise and her ‘see a sick person and help them’ policy sometimes gets us in trouble.”

Denise snorted, wanting to whack Butch for being so inconsiderate. “What Butch means is, we have a small community who trust and help one another, and to get in we just have to ask you some simple questions, just to make sure you’re good people.” She said, noticing how Aaron’s shoulders had loosened up a little. “But you guys look like good people to me.”

“They all look like good people to you.”

Denise did whack him that time.

Aaron couldn’t believe it. He looked back and forth from Denise to Butch, eyes wide in shock, hand tightening around Eric’s as he came to the awareness of what was happening. They couldn’t be lying, Denise looked so sincere and honest about it all that it was impossible for her not to be telling the truth. They were heading towards a community, a safe place full of people, real, live people. And a doctor, a person that could finally get Eric back to good health.

Aaron gazed down at Eric who was fast asleep in his lap. He imagined them being safe, healthy, surrounded by people, and he did something he hadn’t done in a while. He smiled.

 

He felt like his head was about to burst. Literally explode like a volcano, maybe even all the way to his feet, because even they were hurting. He didn’t know why but his chest didn’t feel like elephants were stomping on it anymore, and his throat wasn’t stinging like it had been, not to mention he could slightly breathe through his nose now. Was he dreaming?

He didn’t wait too long to find out, so he tried, very hard, to open his eyes to the light that was peeking through his eyelids. It hurt to even do that, especially since the light was no good for his bad head. Maybe he was hallucinating even, since when he opened his eyes he comprehended that he was lying in a bed in a white room, a kitchen on one side with shelves of medical supplies on the other. There was no way in hell that this was real, even if it did feel like it was.

Once he’d managed to open his eyes completely with a few quick blinks, he then saw that next to his bed Aaron was sitting in a chair with his head resting on the mattress, one hand holding his firmly. He must have been sleeping due to the fact that he was snoring good and proper. Eric chuckled, holding his belly as a shot of pain shot through it, he felt it rumble as he placed his hand atop of it as his eyes widened at the sight of a needle stuck into his hand. His eyes followed the plastic tube that wound from the needle up into a bag at the top of a metal pole, some kind of liquid dripping through.

“Eric?”

The redhead started as the silence was cut, his head spinning around to see Aaron starting to sit up in his chair, a bright smile on his face. Eric couldn’t help smile back.

“Hi.” Eric said, his voice sounding scratchy.

“Hey, you.” Aaron laughed softly, looking relaxed and reassured. “God, I’m so glad you’re finally awake.”

Eric nodded, looking around the room again. “That’s all good and all, but um… Aaron? Where the hell are we?”

Aaron chuckled, gripping Eric’s hand as if he’d slip away if he let go. “You wouldn’t believe what happened.”

“Try me.” Eric grinned cheekily, Aaron handing him a glass of water.

“Do you remember anything?” Aaron began, as he helped Eric sit up in the bed, being weary of the tube in his hand. “Can you remember what happened after the barn?”

Eric thought for a moment, staring into the glass he held in his hand. “I’m not sure.” He muttered. “Vaguely. I remember being sick, then you helping me into that car, then I…”

Eric furrowed his brows and thought hard about what came next. Waking up in that same car with Aaron standing above him and helping him up, a couple of figures came into mind, and guns, guns pointed towards them as he felt dizzy and extremely hot out of the blue.

“Who were those people?” he asked quietly, hoping it wouldn’t be a bad answer.

If he could tell by Aaron’s smile he’d say they weren’t bad. “They helped us, Eric.” He said. “They brought us here and there was a doctor, he said you had a serious case of the flu and that your fever was above normal.” He stared at their entwined hands and squeezed gently. “You were near death, Eric. But he saved you, he didn’t leave your side for days until you’d gotten better.”

Eric’s eyes widened. “Days?”

“Yeah, you’ve been out for four days now, you needed the rest.”

Eric’s head sank back into the pillow as he stared up at the ceiling, feeling the soft touch of Aaron’s thumb against his knuckles. Four whole days he’d been out, completely oblivious to his surroundings and what had been going on. It was a scary thought, especially since he might not have even woken up.

“But you’re okay now.” Aaron said, as if he’d read Eric’s mind. “Doc said you were getting much better, and you’ll be able to get out in no time.” Aaron suddenly smiled widely. “We’ve got a house, you know.”

That caught Eric’s attention. “House?”

“Yeah,” Aaron grinned excitedly. “We’re in a sort of community, there’s tall walls keeping us protected from the outside, and there’s a load of houses, most of them lived in by other people.”

“There’s more people here?” Eric gasped. “You’re kidding?”

“No,” Aaron chuckled at the sudden light in Eric’s eyes. “There’s about fifty people here, Eric. And they’re all really nice, I think you’ll get along with Denise, she seems to like you already and you’ve been unconscious the whole time.”

Eric’s face split into a wide grin at the thought. There were people, actual people who had survived just like Aaron and himself. “This is amazing.”

“I know.” Aaron said with a shake of his head. “We’re safe, Eric. We’re going to be okay, just like I promised.”

Eric could feel the tears prickling his eyes and blinked to wash them away, he saw the hope in Aaron’s expression and the eagerness in his eyes, and that’s when he saw what he’d thought would only be in his dreams for the rest of his days. A window was just meters away from Aaron, looking out onto a small field of grass with a beautiful house just on the other side, and on that field there were three children kicking a football around, shouting, smiling, and laughing.

Aaron followed his gaze and rotated to see what he was seeing, a smile pulling at his lips too. “Eric,” Aaron said, turning to face him. “I think we’ve found home.”

Eric smiled brightly, after all that they’d been through since the start of the end of the world, he finally felt like there was a chance, a chance of living, of surviving. With his free hand Eric grabbed Aaron by his shirt, yanking him to sit on the bed and down to meet him in a long, passionate kiss. Aaron responded with as much enthusiasm, pulling him snug against himself to fit their bodies together.

When air seemed important they pulled apart, smiling at one another like they could tackle the world one zombie at a time. Finally, they were where they needed to be.

“Aaron?”

“Yeah, sweetheart?”

“You did pick a house with matching decor right?”

Aaron laughed, and it was the best sound Eric had heard in months.


End file.
